Spaghetti Dinner
by RenkonNairu
Summary: Dedicated to Mrsbunny14. -Missing scene from "Before Its Ever Even"- Kevin, Gwen and Devlin have dinner like a real family for once.


Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or its sequels, spin-off and related characters. All is the property of Man of Action and Cartoon Network. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.

…Before Its Ever Even...

(A/N: This one-shot is dedicated to Mrsbunny14. This is a missing scene from the end of chapter nine in my fic "...Before Its Ever Even...". Hope you enjoy!)

Spin-Off: Spaghetti Dinner

About as hesitantly as Zed had been when she came over, Devlin extended his fingers. He stroked up one of her pointed blue ears, paused to see if she was going to protest, whimper in fear, or run away. When she didn't, he repeated the motion on the other ear. Then Devlin looked at Kevin. Zed also turned her eyes to gaze at him, as if questioning what they were supposed to do now.

"There." He said, smiling at them both. Legitimately smiling. Not just at Zed, but at Devlin too. Kevin never thought he would ever actually smile at his son for real. An honest to goodness smile of pride and affection. "Now, was that so bad?"

Zed gave a little wine of admission. No. It wasn't that bad. Devlin wasn't as bad as he was when he was still a new puppy.

Devlin pulled away. "She still hates me."

"It'll take time." Kevin assured him. Fixing broken relationships took time. Some more than others. The Osmosian had a lot of experience with that. It was easy to rebuild trust where there was already a history of trust. But Devlin was still newborn when he almost killed Zed. That _was_ their history. That was their only history. There was no friendship before it to call back to or rebuild on.

Gwendolyn came out carrying a serving tray of spaghetti. She looked at both her boys sitting on the couch with the dog. Zed never hung out so close to Devlin. "Something wrong?"

"No." Devlin said. He looked back at the dog, it was the first time Zed had let him touch her since he came to live with his mother. He glanced up at his father, and it was all thanks to Kevin of all people. "Actually, everything's fine."

Who would have thought?

Upon seeing that human food was out and available, Zed abandoned the Osmosians in favor of pressing herself up against Gwendolyn's legs. The Anubian Baskurr gazed up at the sorceress expectantly, her crimson eyes big and sparkling. Zed might have become an elderly dog by this point, but she still managed to pull off the 'puppy-dog face' flawlessly.

But Gwendolyn just looked down at her, unimpressed. "If I don't let Kevin and Devlin give you human food, what makes you think you'll get any from me?"

Kevin stood from the couch.

"I can carry that." He said, offering to take the spaghetti tray from her.

But Gwendolyn shifted her body, moving the tray out of his reach. "Ya know what else you can do?" She said. "Help our injured son to the table."

"I can walk!" Devlin snapped from the couch. Both parents noted that, to spite his protests, the boy didn't actually make any move to get up under his own power.

Heaving an exaggerated sigh, Kevin came back to the couch and hoisted his son up over his shoulder. Carrying him like a sack of potatoes, the Osmosian deposited him in an empty seat at the dining table.

Gwendolyn set out the spaghetti and the three of them sat down for what was their first ever dinner together.

Devlin looked from one parent to the other at a bit of a loss as to what to think. Sure, he'd seen his parents in the same room together. He'd seen them at Plumbers HQ, and at Gwendolyn's library, and sometimes just out around Bellwood. But he'd never seen them look so... domestic before. The whole picture -the whole idea- was a little too surreal for him.

"Eat something." Kevin barked at him.

At least Dad was the same old Dad. Bossy and impatient. Good to know a change of scenery and change of company didn't change him. Devlin twirled a string of spaghetti around on his fork before lifting it to his mouth. He knew the sauce came from a jar, but Mom always added her own spices and seasonings to it which made the store bough sauce so much better.

Zed came up beside Kevin's chair and looked up at him expectantly. As if he owed her or something. And maybe because he made her let Devlin pet her, he kinda did. Besides, the Osmosian never had any problem feeding her human food before. This seemed to be no different. Kevin chanced a glance at Gwendolyn to make sure she wasn't paying attention. The sorceress was watching her son eat. Kevin carefully slid one of the turkey meatballs off his plate and onto the floor. Zed quickly scooped it up with her tongue and started chomping on it loudly.

Gwendolyn turned her head at the sound. "What's Zed got? Is she eating something? Kevin!"

"What?" The Osmosian feigned innocents -he wasn't very good at it.

"How many times have I told you not to feed her at the table and _not to give her human food!_ " The sorceress glared at him. "She's not as young as she used to be, she needs to eat healthy. I spend good money on senior formula dog food made especially for Anubian Baskurr. Its not easy to get on Earth and only a few feed stores carry it -feed stores, not pet stores! So, could you please not let her fill up on our food which is full of sodiums and grains that are bad for her!"

"But she likes it." Kevin argued back.

"You like moldy fluffeloafs." Gwendolyn was quick to counter. "That doesn't mean their good for you."

" _I'm_ bad for _you._ " The Osmosian reminded his Anodite wife. "That doesn't seem to stop you from handing out with me or-" a quick glance at the child at the table "-doing other things with me."

Devlin couldn't help but snort with amusement at the exchange. "You can say 'sex', Dad. I'm twelve, not stupid. I know what sex is."

"Just so long as you're not having any." Kevin brushed off his son's remark. The censorship was more for Gwendolyn's benefit than the boy's. The Osmosian assumed she would like to keep things clean and appropriate for mixed company or around preadolescent children.

"Bottom line: everyone likes things that are bad for them." Scoffed the younger Osmosian.

"What do you like that's bad for you?" Gwendolyn asked, watching her son from across the table with a critical -almost concerned- look.

Devlin twirled more spaghetti on his fork, unbothered by his mother's scrutiny. His answer was casual, almost as if nothing about it mattered. "Soft drinks, processed foods, and -oh yeah!- the big one, helping Uncle Ben with his stupid alien and monster fights." To illustrate this, the Osmosian lifted a leg and brought one injured and bandaged foot on the table. "But then, that's pretty standard in this family."

"Get your feet off the table." Kevin growled.

The boy slid his bandaged foot back to the floor.

Gwendolyn heaved a sigh. Her son made a valid point. Liking things that weren't exactly in ones own best interests was kind of a standard in their family -on both sides. She and Ben never could pass up the chance to nearly get themselves killed fighting aliens and monsters (or dating aliens and monsters). Kevin used to trade in contraband alien technology, and even after he went legit, would still continue to haggle with warlords and tyrants over the price tea on Khoros. Devlin liked tinkering with machines like his father, and tagging along with Ben on missions and pretending to be a Big Damn Hero -a combination of which lead to his current injury. So, yeah, self-destructive behavior was pretty standard in their family.

That didn't make it healthy.

Gwendolyn decided it was best to change the subject. "Tell me about school, Devlin. I know you were sent to ISS again last week, I hope you're remembering to catch up on the work you miss when they send you out of class."

She did not suggest that he should amend his behavior so that he wasn't sent out of class anymore. The sorceress already learned that was a losing battle. So long as he wasn't attacking his classmates in the middle of tests or breaking bones for disputing the terms of a trade, she was happy.

"Yes. I am." He assured his mother.

Kevin cast a sideways look at the boy. "Oh, really? Is that what you were doing with the textbook abandoned on the coffee table while you putzed around on your e-reader."

Devlin cast his father a scathing look, as if to reprimand the older man for tattling on him. Out loud, he said, "How do you know I wasn't reading a book for school on my e-reader?"

"Well, were you reading a book for school?" Gwendolyn asked, fixing her son with a scrutinizing glare that seem to cut right through him. Dissect him in a way the boy thought only his therapist could. Peer down into his soul with her Anodite eyes.

"Um..." He faltered, suddenly unable to lie to his mother. Devlin opened his mouth, a semi-convincing half-truth ready on his lips. But Gwendolyn only raised a single scarlet eyebrow and the young Osmosian collapsed like a house of cards. "I was reading ' _A Song of Ice and Fire'_."

Kevin didn't know what that was.

But Gwendolyn did.

"Devlin!" Her fork clattered onto her plate with a loud clinking of metal on porcelain. "You are too young to be reading that! How did you even get that on there? I put parental controls on it!"

"And I overrode them." The boy informed her, proud of himself. His pride quickly deflated as her glare of disapproval only deepened. She was not impressed with her child's ability to hack his tech. Devlin sank into his seat. "I just really needed to know what all the memes were about. Okay? I did it for the memes."

Kevin looked from one to the other, not understanding the objection here. Sure, the kid had been neglecting his homework, but it wasn't like he was rotting his brain on video games or doing drugs. He was reading. Wouldn't Gwendolyn be relieved he was reading? "I don't get it. What's the big deal?"

" _Game of Thrones_!" Gwendolyn snarled at him, as if he were a moron for also not having an objection. "Your twelve-year-old son is reading _Game of Thrones_."

The Osmosian opened his mouth, thought about what he was about to say, decided he did not want to share. Like, yeah, Devlin was only twelve, and yeah, all the sex, violence, and death in the books was a little inappropriate for a normal human child that young. But Devlin wasn't exactly a normal human child and it wasn't like he didn't get his fair share of exposure to violence and death in his real life. Back when it was just him and Kevin, and Kevin was his most insane version of himself -Kevin 11,000- Devlin got a front row seat for Red Weddings, blowing up Septs of Baelor, and Battles of Bastards. Really, the only thing that might be in those books that Devlin hadn't been desensitized to would be all the gratuitous and creative fantasy sex.

Kevin remained tactfully silent.

He looked down at his plate and slid another meatball off it. It rolled off the table and landed on the floor next to Zed, whom scooped it up greedily, once again chomping loudly. Kevin would much rather have his wife mad at him about feed the dog human food than all the bloody, violent shit he exposed their younger-than-eleven-year-old son to over the course of his short life.

"Kevin! Stop that!" She snapped at him.

Zed gave a drawn-out little whine of an "Ar~rf!" As if to say, _'Oh my gawd! Shut up, Gwendolyn! You let me eat my own poop!'_

"I want my dog to get the things she likes." Argued the Osmosian. "As you keep reminding me, she's not that young anymore. She should be allowed to enjoy the time she's got!"

Zed let loose a loud bark of agreement.

"And I want her to have as much time as she can have!" Gwendolyn snarled back. "Don't you want her to have a long life?"

"What's more important to you, quantity of life, or quality of life?" Kevin demanded. "What's the point of prolonging a life if its not being enjoyed."

"How can a creature enjoy a life that's cut short?" The sorceress evaded his question with one of her own.

Devlin sat there watching his parents argue. This conflict of philosophy really explained a lot about them and their disagreement about him and his very existence. Back when his mother was pregnant and dying because of said pregnancy. Kevin suggested terminating, and Gwendolyn refused to even consider the idea.

"They wouldn't care!" Kevin informed her. "They'd be dead."

There was a strange kind of comfort to be found in nihilism.

"You are so heartless sometimes, Kevin!" Gwendolyn was raising her voice now. "I really don't understand how you can say these things so casually!"

"Look, I've had a hard life, and you know it. You were there for a lot of it. You got to witness first hand!" They were both using raised voices now.

Devlin couldn't help the schadenfreudian grin that pulled at his lips from watching the exchange. "Mom, Dad, please keep fighting."

That comment got the adults to pause their disagreement. Both turning their attention to the boy at the same time.

"Eat your food, you need the calories to heal." Kevin commanded.

Gwendolyn stood from her seat and exited the dining room. "I need to take those books off your e-reader and reset the parental controls."

Devlin watched her head to the living room and pick up his e-reader. As she overrode the lock screen, the boy turned to his father. Leaning over the table, he hissed. "Okay, quickly, tell me everyone who dies and their method of death."

Kevin twirled some spaghetti around his fork, unconcerned. "So, I never read the books, and -apparently- they're very different from the show. Just make a mental list of all your favorite characters and assume they die."

"Thanks, Dad." The boy groaned, unamused.

"Eat your food." Repeated the older Osmosian. "Maybe if your mother see's you've cleaned your plate by the time she get's back in here, she won't look too closely at what else you have on your e-reader."

"What makes you think I have anything else on my e-reader Mom might object to?" Devlin argued back, putting on his most innocent -and most fake- insulted glare.

"Because I was a twelve-year-old boy once." Kevin reminded him.

The boy continued to glare at the older man for a bit longer, before deciding that maybe it was a good deal, and he should take it. He scooped up a giant wad of noodles and shoved them in his mouth, chewing loudly.

"Okay, but eat slower." Kevin amended. "Otherwise you're gonna make yourself sick and I don't wanna have to clean up your puke."

…

After dinner, Devlin was gassy and had a stomach ache because of it. Gwendolyn was pouring him a dose of Pepto while Kevin cleared the table.

Gathering up all the plates, he was given explicit instructions to deposit any uneaten food on them into the garbage disposer in the sink, and put any untouched spaghetti from the serving tray into a tupperware container. Under no circumstances was he to give any leftovers or uneaten scraps to Zed. At all.

Kevin carried everything to the kitchen, making a big show of ignoring the Anubian Baskurr's wines as she trailed behind him. He paused, at the sink, leaning away from the counter to peer out into the living room where Gwendolyn was standing over their son with a shot of pink stomach medicine and a glass over water.

"This better not be an act to get out of finishing your homework." She was saying.

Gwendolyn seemed adequately distracted. Kevin set all three plates on the kitchen floor. "Zed," he hissed, "help me clean these."

The alien dog was all too happy to oblige. Lapping up the leftover sauce and scraps of meatball and noodle with loud licks.

"Okay, but do it quietly!" The Osmosian tried to keep his voice at a whisper while also putting enough authority into it to get the dog to listen.

Zed paused briefly to look up at him, then back to the living room where Gwendolyn was collecting the empty Pepto cup. She also took his e-reader with her. On her way to put the medicine away, Gwendolyn turned towards the kitchen slightly and the dog walked away from the plates before she could see and get mad at Kevin again.

"Good girl." Muttered the Osmosian as he gathered up all three plates and deposited them in the sink.

Turning on the water, Kevin meant to just rince the plates off. But then they looked so close to being clean already, the Osmosian touched the lavender dish gloves that Gwendolyn kept there (she always bought them sized for own hands, not his) and absorbed the rubber. Squeezing some soap into the sponge, Kevin started actually washing the dishes. He was just finishing up the last plate when Gwendolyn came up behind him.

Circling her arms around his waist, she peered around his broad body. "Is Kevin Levin washing a dish!?"

He was about to reply with some kind of witty retort, but Gwendolyn had moved by the time he turned around. The sorceress was gathering up the pot and saucepan from the stove and threw them in the sink with the plate Kevin had just finished.

"I'll dry and put things away while you wash." She smiled.

The Osmosian suppressed a groan. He preferred being the one who dried and put things away. It was the easier job, and besides, Kevin was taller. It was he didn't have to stand on his tip-toes or use mana to put things away in the higher cabinets. Besides, washing was gross. He preferred not to have to do the dirty part of the job.

But then Gwendolyn kissed him on the cheek and thanked him for being so sweet and considerate and, well, he couldn't refuse after that. So, before the Osmosian even know what he was doing, he had already scrubbed through the sauce pan and was currently rinsing soap off noodle pot.

When everything was done, Kevin even wiped down the counter.

Gwendolyn wrapped her arms around his waist again, this time turning him around to face her. Kevin encircled her waist in his own thick arms and pulled her closer to him. She leaned up, and he leaned down, both lips parting. Gwendolyn was ready for a sweet gentle open-mouthed kiss, her tongue waiting to dart out into his. But at the last moment, Kevin turned to the side. Whispering in her ear, breath hot on her lobe.

"Ya know, I didn't bring my pajamas."

"That's good..." She whispered, back. Her own voice taking on a thick heady quality. It sent a shiver down Kevin's back. "...Because you're not spending the night here."

"What!?" He pulled away. Looking at her confused, and slightly betrayed. He thought they made so much progress! She let him in the house while their son was here. Devlin was more comfortable with him. "But you said I was doing good. I did do good. I got Zed to let Delvin pet her!" He snapped his fingers at the dog. "Zed, go let Devlin pet you again!"

The Anubian Baskurr just turned her head to look at him, gave a short snip of an "urf", and trotted through the kitchen dog-door, and out of the house. She let Devlin pet her once already today.

"She still hates me!" The boy shouted from the living room where he was -finally- working on his homework -for real.

"She barely knows you!" Kevin called back.

"I live with her!" Devlin continued to argue.

"Okay, stop shouting across the house!" Gwendolyn grabbed Kevin by the arm and dragged him out of the kitchen. She pushed him down on the couch next to their son. "Now, finish your conversation using your inside voices. After that, Kevin, you're gonna make sure Devlin stays on task and gets his homework done. Then I'll check it over and, Devlin, you can have your e-reader back. I've already taken off all the inappropriate books and changed my Kindle password."

"Hey, does he get internet on that thing?" Kevin asked. "'Cause you should also check his AO3 feeds. Just to be safe."

"Shut-up, Dad!" The boy snarled, practically jumping off the couch as he launched himself to his feet. Completely ignoring the discomfort from putting his full weight on his burns.

Gwendolyn paused, glaring at her son and wondering exactly what tags her twelve-year-old son was searching that Kevin thought should be checked for her approval. What was Devlin looking at that she might object to?

"You'll get your e-reader back tomorrow." She walked back into the kitchen to make up a to-go container for Kevin's portion of the leftovers.

Devlin flopped back down on the couch. "Why are you so terrible all the time?"

The older man only shrugged. "Why do you read instead of looking at stuff like a normal guy?"

"For the plot, obviously."

Kevin only flashed him a skeptical look. The things that he was reading that Gwendolyn might object to included many things a pubescent pre-teen might be interested in. None of them were 'plot'. But the older man didn't call him on it. Instead, the Osmosian tried to bring his son back to task. "Get back to your homework."

He was still new to the whole 'responsible and nurturing parent' thing.

Devlin stuck his tongue out at the older Osmosian. But he pulled his textbook onto his lap and got to work all the same. After a few minutes of watching his son fill out short-answer questions on a separate sheet of paper, Kevin got board. He stood from the couch and wandered back into the kitchen where Gwendolyn was just finishing up a sweet little to-go bag for him. Complete with the spaghetti they just ate, some bread, and sliced fruit -because she knew he didn't have anything fresh at his own place.

"I guess this means its time to go?" He asked.

"Only if you don't want to stay and help me helicopter around Devlin for the rest of the night." She answered.

Amazingly, that did not sound particularly appealing to the Osmosian. "I'll head back." He took the to-go bag. "When can I see you again?"

"The next day that Devlin has his therapy appointment." Gwendolyn supplied. "We can grab dinner after work."

"That sounds nice." He wrapped an arms around her, pulling the sorceress flush against his body.

This time, she she leaned up and he leaned down, Kevin did not turn away. Their lips met, parted, and Gwendolyn's tongue slithered out to slide along her husband's. The Osmosian pressed deeper, and the sorceress gave a light moan... ...before pushing him away.

"Don't go starting any of that, mister." She warned. "I already told you, you can't spend the night."

"Right." He muttered.

Kevin didn't know why he was so disappointed. What was he expecting? Gwendolyn just barely let him have dinner with them. That didn't mean that everything was fixed in their relationship, she implicitly trusted him again, and would allow him to be around their son for extended periods. It was literally just dinner.

Gripping the leftovers in one hand, the Osmosian exited the kitchen.

"Bye, Brat, I'm leaving." He told his son as he passed the couch.

"Be a stranger." The younger Osmosian replied.

Kevin left.

He went home with a tupperware container of leftover spaghetti and meatballs, and a good feeling in his chest. It was nice having dinner with the wife and kid.

But Gwendolyn still wouldn't let him spend the night. She now trusted him enough to be around their son so long as she was present and in a position to easily intervene should hostilities arise between father and son. But she did not trust him to stay in the house over night while Devlin was there. Not when she was asleep and not alert.

After all, it was in the middle of the night when she was asleep that Kevin originally kidnapped the boy in the first place. He understood, and was amazed at just how much trust in him had been restored already. Sure, their relationship was completely and perfectly healed. But it was well on its way there. That was Kevin could ask for.

…

END


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